Journalism training leaders have voiced concern about the possible impact of funding cuts on vocational courses.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists’ cross-media accreditation board met for the first time last week at the Guardian’s offices in London.

The board re-accredited six existing courses run by Cardonald College, Glasgow Caledonian University, News Associates Wimbledon and Leeds Trinity University College.

But members also sounded a warning note about the possible threat to accredited courses from cuts to the higher educaiton budget.

Richard Tait, director of the Centre of Journalism Studies, Cardiff University said: “While the NCTJ is quite right to insist on sufficient resources and expertise so that skills are properly taught and honed, education is a competitive market, and NCTJ courses are expensive to run.

“In the likely cuts ahead, it is vital for accredited courses to retain their funding so that they are not forced to charge students exorbitant fees; otherwise, diversity will be further compromised.”

Board members also emphasised the importance of shorthand, and agreed that all students should strive to reach at least 100wpm to stand the best chance of getting a job.

Sun managing editor Graham Dudman said that journalism qualifications were “not worth the paper they’re written on if they didn’t have shorthand.”

The board also agreed that work experience was an essential part of a student’s training while on course, but that after their training, job seekers should not work for nothing.

Comments

steve pain (13/09/2010 10:58:39)
‘Diversity will be further compromised’. What does that mean?
I’ve seen many ‘workies’ as they are termed over the past few decades. They come out of college with a great deal of ambition, but little real skills. Bring back the old system where you went to funerals, parish councils meetings, country fairs. They honed skills – if you cocked it up by getting somebody’s name wrong you knew about it the next day. I doubt if the current crop have ever heard of a ‘reader’. The problem lies with the training, or it’s lack of real application. Sure, tell a youngster how to be a reporter. Give them qualifications to show they can in theory do the job. Theory and practice are too entirely different things. Read any newspaper today and it becomes evident. Stupid headlines, mistakes everywhere. Whatever happened to real standards?

steve pain (13/09/2010 11:02:38)
And by the way – spot the error.